Leh cloud burst! Flash floods kill 44; Leh completely cut off

This is a discussion on Leh cloud burst! Flash floods kill 44; Leh completely cut off within Street Experiences, part of the Buckle Up category; Originally Posted by fine69
My sister and brother-in-law are planning to visit Leh this 22nd and already have the air ...

My sister and brother-in-law are planning to visit Leh this 22nd and already have the air tickets booked. Do you guys think it'd be worth it going there after this or should they instead cancel their trip and plan elsewhere? I mean this has disrupted a lot of things and would accomodation/travelling be a problem?

As of now, you cannot go to Pangong, Lamayuru, Tso Moriri or even Thikshey, all these places have been badly affected. Restoration work must be going on, but I would be sceptical about how many hotels and taxis will be available by the time your sister travels.

From the pictures and TV reports it would seems that the wide road between houses on either side became "natural" course for stream of slush and mud. The picture of truck next to petrol pump near airport says as much.

As this is forward region BRO is doing 24x7 work to restore links. Just keeping fingers crossed that no further weather disturbances occur.

Still not able to talk to friends who live in Leh. Hope they are all well.

BSNL services are back up in case you are trying to reach someone by phone. Report is that Kargil - Leh road will open in 7-10 days as massive bridge repair work is underway. Manali-Leh road will be open in 4-5 days time.

It is recommended that nobody travel to Leh at this point in time and give the region some breathing space. It is still raining heavily with frequent landslides and it is not correct to burden the armed forces with additional rescue work over what they already have on hand.

I have it from a source that the Delhi-Leh flights are going with supplies and coming back with rescued travelers. As of now no tourists are being entertained.

The road to Choglamsar is open.
The petrol pump at the main round (entry point to town) has survived despite the mounds of mud all over.
The Maruti/M&M service centre on the road down to the airport appears to be intact (at least the building from outside).
Although CM Omar Abdullah said that Leh-Manali road will open in 3 days time, locally there is scepticism taht it will take at least a week to reopen.
Flights all going full, Leh slowly getting empty of tourists.

News from my friend Vinay who is stranded in Leh, waiting for the roads to reopen:
"The stretch near Rumtse (Upshi-Tanglang la section) is badly damaged for 10-20 kms and it is unlikely to be repaired soon. Hence, the BRO/GREF is working on an alternative road so that the Leh-Manali can be thrown open"

You can tell them that via Namshangla-tso kar they can bypass rumste and tanglangla.
If more plains-Sarchu gets open, they need not wait for tanglang la

A cab driver in Leh says that the Upshi-Mahe-Sumdo-Tso Kar-Debring-Pang road is open, but no reconfirmations on that. And since both Leh-Upshi and Pang-Manali roads are now open, it should be possible to avoid the Upshi-Rumtse road which is supposed to be badly damaged.

You can go to Pangong Tso from Leh now. This has been confirmed to me by a friend who went to Pangong 2 days back. As already mentioned by HVK the most affected portion was cholamsar and that is clear now.

3 cheers for the Army/IAF/ civil admin and the BRO for working overtime to clear all the mess.

You can go to Pangong Tso from Leh now. This has been confirmed to me by a friend who went to Pangong 2 days back. As already mentioned by HVK the most affected portion was cholamsar and that is clear now.

3 cheers for the Army/IAF/ civil admin and the BRO for working overtime to clear all the mess.

Regards

That is commendable. I hope that soon we will soon see Ladakh on its feet again.

BTW, Vinay & Beena left behind their Fiat Adventure in Leh and flew back to Bangalore yesterday evening. Good that they did, the uncertainty over the reopening of both the Manali and Srinagar roads continues. They will get the car back once the road reopens.